Mobile communication devices, such as cellular phones, are commonly used by people today. When carried with a person throughout the day, these devices may ring at inappropriate times. For example, a phone may ring while a person is in a theater or a pager may beep while a person is in a meeting. Additionally, if these devices are left unattended, the rings and/or alert that they provide may be disruptive to others who are nearby.
As is commonly known, mobile communication devices include a variety of mechanisms for alerting a user of an event associated with the communication device. For example, a cellular phone rings when an incoming call is received. Additionally, alert reminders may be provided to inform the user that a message has been received. These messages may be in a variety of different forms such as text, voice or instant message. Alert reminders may also be given to inform the user of a condition associated with the device such as a low battery. Any one of these rings or alerts, when given while device is in a public place, may potentially be disturbing or irritating for the user or others nearby.
A solution to this problem is for the user to manually mute or otherwise disable the rings or alerts associated with the mobile communication device during those times when audile rings and/or alerts would be irritating or disruptive. This solution suffers from several drawbacks. First, the rings and/or alerts must be continually disabled and enabled depending on the user's location or the time of day. Second, a user may forget to disable the rings or alerts and inadvertently bring his or her mobile communication device into an environment where its operation may be disruptive. Similarly, the user may forget to disable rings or alerts when the phone is left behind in a public place such as an open plan office. A user might also forget to re-enable rings or alerts and miss a call or message.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a system that changes rings and or alert modes of a mobile communication device without intervention from the user. Furthermore, it would be desirable to have mobile communication device system that minimizes the bothersome effect that its audible alerts may have on people other than the user of the device.